Duality (Old)
by Catoust
Summary: First iterations of 'Duality', recorded here for posterity.


My eyes snapped open. Even after the night's rest, the questions and promptings hounded me. The artificial rays of the rising sun filtering through my wood blinds offered no remorse. Without conscious effort on my part, I found myself on the floor, moving into a series of exercises and stretches to jump start my body, a better method for waking than caffeine ever did for me. Having the option of something reflective, my daily ritual brought me in front of a simple piece of polished metal. Light blue eyes, tinted yellow by bronze, stared back at me. Together we conversed, speaking of pity and understanding. I pulled my hair into a loose bun, promising to follow my other's promptings later tonight.

It's been perhaps half a month since this new reality started. After the events of the first week I refused to step past the walls of this «Town of Beginnings». In lieu of combat I had walked, keeping myself busy until my mind could finish compartmentalizing what had occurred.

Half a week had passed since that day, perhaps a full seven days. After the first three days my body had been screaming at me to go back out there, to continue what needed to be done. And it was right. No longer shackled by grief and apathy, I grabbed a simple meal from a cafe, my feet bringing me into the fields surrounding the starter city of floor one. Perhaps subconsciously I had already prepared to try and move forward. With a controlled breath, I sauntered over to the boars that had spawned in the area where I last ventured to.

When I had returned into an acceptable groove it was already 0800. Whether on purpose or if I had drowned them out, my trip out to the fields was unaccosted by proper sentience. The majority of interactions I had were with simple AI, though based on the patterns I noticed perhaps it would be better to say Virtual Intelligence. Although, the relative simplicity of their behavior could be attributed to the simple life style they had. I remember a friend once telling me that the inhabitants of smaller towns could be incredible gossips, rarely changing and content with only their immediate surroundings instead of reaching for their full potential.

The «Town of Beginnings» was improperly named. For its size, it would be better to called a city. While nothing concrete had been calculated, word on the street was that the starter area of the first floor was able to house some six thousand people, with a good two to three thousand of those homes already in use for NPC's.

In the fields around the «Town of Beginnings» simple creatures spawned, the majority of which were levels 1-3. One such creature was a «Plains Boar». Around hip level in height, the creatures were fairly passive beasts, not reacting to anything outside combat. Ordinarily I would defeat it in under a minute, perhaps two if I missed a few strikes, but my goal for this specific creature was to recondition myself further to evading strikes.

During one of my dodges, something that took me numerous attempts at the start to become used to, I noticed a group of males walking by. I recognized all but one from my initial days out in the field as well as walking around the city. Their leader, a thuggish looking guy clad in red, had been coaching them through various things. It was probably coincidence that they were in the same area as me, but it was rather strange.

The one I didn't recognize seemed a little afraid, their armor not matching the red and earthen tones the rest of the group used for their clothing. I imagine they were guiding him in proper combat, protected by the power of numbers should something go wrong.

I continued my dance with the boar, keeping an eye on them where I could. From time to time, I noticed their swords glowing. It was something I'd seen but never managed. Twirling on and around the swines? Child's play. Causing my sword to glow and shatter my target into a myriad of lights? Said child would have better luck doing something such as writing a novel.

I spent another few minutes playing cat and mouse, drawing the fight out to work off my frustrations with this world before eventually bringing the butt of my sword into the beast's skull.

As I closed out the window that popped up, the leader of the group walked over to me, the others having spread around in a loose circle. "I think it's really cool that you fought like that, but I gotta ask: why aren't you using any «Sword Skills»?"

I stared at his face, taking in the rugged he had. Truthfully, he was a beer gut away from looking like retired military personnel, but the appearance was still comforting.

"If you can't call that skill, I don't know what you would call it." I took a swig of water from the water skin I had attached to my belt, vaguely recognizing that what he termed sword skills and what I termed sword skills had a different meaning.

The resulting look I received could be described as a mix of amazement and confoundment. "You really don't know, do you?" I stretched my limbs out. While there wasn't a true fatigue like there would be in the real world, it helped ease the mental strain I felt trying to convince me of the actual heaviness in my limbs. "How have you even survived this long?"

"Skill," I responded. Either he'd back off or start talking. Both suited me just fine.

"Yeesh. Look, I'm willing to help you out, but do you mind toning down the hostility? I'm trying to help you out here, but if you're going to keep up the attitude I'm totally fine backing off." The corner of my mouth twitched when I looked back at him. His face was a war zone of flirtatious desires, irritation, and good intentions, eyes and lips twitched as they tried to decide which emotion to settle on.

I gave a huff of air, clasping my hands in front of me and gave a short bow. "I apologize. This is my normal behavior, but I will endeavor to control it." When I rose, I inwardly smirked at how his posture became more open. Oh the joy I would gain from messing with him.

The male jabbed a thumb at his chest, a confident grin adorning his stubbled face. "My name is Klein. I'm in charge of these sorry guys." A few cries shouted back at him, all tinged with familiar camaraderie. Soon after he said that however, his face turned serious.

He took a few steps back before speaking up. "Regardless of your weapon or level, there's three «Sword Skills» you should know. «Horizontal», «Slant», and «Vertical». They do exactly what they sound like, attacking horizontally, at a slant, and vertically. They're a lot stronger than standard attacks and come out faster than you can normally do them, but they have a short wait time between each use and you'll also get stuck in something called «Post Motion», regardless of whether you land the attack or not."

Klein pantomimed drawing his sword from its place on his hip, holding his hand slightly to the right of his body. "To activate «Horizontal», you need to hold your sword out to the side, then start shifting weight from your right foot to the left. The system takes care of the rest." He performed it in slow motion, using exaggerated movements. I was thankful for the effort in teaching me, but I felt the way I normally fought would allow me to be much more fluid and in control. His antics were amusing however and I didn't want to stop him.

"For «Vertical», you need to move your feet like taking a step. Bring your sword up, stopping right before you'd shoulder it, and once you feel the process register, release it." I realized that he must have said this several dozen times. If not to his friends then to others he must have encountered on the field. It sounded simple enough. Getting stuck after attacking didn't sound ideal though. I wondered if was possible to hold my own, interspacing these «Sword Skills» between my normal method of attacking.

"«Slant» can attack from two directions. To attack from the top right to the bottom left you need to fully put your sword on your shoulder, and for the bottom left to top right you need to move your sword to your waist like you were drawing it from the hip."

It really did seem fairly simple, if rather annoying. I guess if I kept the attention of these monsters with my normal attacks, others could suffer from «Post Motion» while dealing damage. I was snapped from my thoughts when he motioned to my sword.

"Why don't you try them out? They're keeping the monsters away." He took a step back and looked at me, a grin still on his face. A portion of me that had become utterly bored during his explanation wanted to wipe it off in whatever fashion I could.

I gave another puff of air, brushing away a lock of hair that habitually separated from its brethren. I moved into the stance for «Horizontal», shocked by the resulting movement I was forced into. I tried to struggle out of the paralysis that was forced over my body, instantly hating this thing called «Post Motion» and failed to keep the grimace off my face.

Assuming where Klein would try to lead me, I kept the image of a bottom-top «Slant», forcing my body to move into it as soon as possible. It didn't take too long, not even a second, but in combat every moment mattered. I think I'd stick to my original idea of holding attention with standard attacks. Once the «Post Motion» faded, I moved into a «Vertical», flicking my blade into a chambered position once I broke free of the stasis. Klein seemed impressed, if a little troubled. The description of "releasing it" was fairly spot on. I felt a mental click of sorts right before I unleashed the skill.

"Were you holding back or something on that boar? You used those «Sword Skills» really smoothly for a newbie. 'Course, maybe I'm that good a teacher!" He rubbed his chin in self praise. Time to stamp that out.

"I've had combat training in real life," I said, sheathing my sword. I turned away and looked at the players that had come along with him. Some of them were fighting on their own, while two groups of two, each with a shield user, were taking turns attacking a single creature. Aside from the outlier from before, they seemed to work fairly well together, even breaking apart and reforming after a few battles.

My line seemed to have rendered him speechless. I felt a bit bad, considering he seemed like the kind of person who would be talking almost non-stop. "What's your name, by the way?" A little solemn. I wonder what he thought I did in order to have that kind of experience.

"Dawn. But in here you may call me Asasaki." I turned around and gave a small smile, offering my hand. "And yes, I am a foreigner."

Klein took my hand and shook, appearing even more dumbfounded. "How'd you manage to get a copy of Sword Art?"

"I had some time off for personal reasons. One of my friends from long ago convinced me to try the gave out with him." I took another swig of water, feeling the song of battle slowly increase in volume.

"But why are you out here alone then?" I didn't need to see his expressive face to know his brow was furled.

"He died. Hesitated in the face of a «Frenzy Boar»." I gave a few short hops, trying to keep a little bit of adrenaline around. Klein didn't have a real response, offering a short sorry. "I miss him, but I'd do a disservice to his memory if I moped around any longer."

A thought occurred to me, and I stepped closer to the bandana wearing man, pushing my chest slightly forward as I moved onto my toes to get into his face. "You lead these guys, right?" I inquired, narrowing my eyes. He stammered out a yes, face a little flushed. "Get them to bring a boar to me." I turned away, looking around to see who would bring one over.

"H-Harry! Bring a boar over!" A male with a sword and simple wooden shield led a «Frenzy Boar», a creature that came up to my chest as opposed to my waist like the «Plains Boars» closer to town, over. When it got within range, I wasted no time in running past it, dipping the tip of my «Starter Sword» into its flank and quickly flicking my wrist in a semi-circle to get a grazing shot along the same wound. It wasn't pretty, and it didn't go very deep, but nobody liked getting a wound roughed up.

"Alone or together?" I called out, griping my sword with both hands as the boar turned around to face me. 'Harry' was confused at first, but after I began imitating a matador he seemed to grasp what I meant.

The monster charged at me, my initial strikes having served well to keep its attention. I stepped to the side, bracing my blade with two hands and letting the creature perform the work of driving the tip of my blade along its side.

Harry ran in and slammed its spine with the edge of his glowing shield. I heard Klein yell something along the lines of "switch". I didn't understand fully, but I took advantage of the boar's inattention by slashing at the muscles in its left foreleg.

Klein called out for me to use a «Sword Skill». As much as I didn't want to, I suppose doing so would honor Klein's teaching. I moved into the stance for «Vertical», the preparatory motion taking longer to register than it would for myself to perform the same attack. The resulting strike, magnificently crossing at a right angle to the earlier attack I made on its side, was faster than I could have done. I had to admit that the way the boar's health bar dipped was worth the «Post Motion» I suffered.

The creature wasn't dead just yet however. I curved the flat of my blade downwards, slapping its head away before coiling my limbs to slam the butt of my pommel into its skull. As had happened the first time I hunted boars, its health bar dipped noticeably. Not quite enough to equal the amount that the «Sword Skill» did, but much more than my attacks did on the rest of its body.

Harry dashed in yet once more with a glowing blade. His sword trailed a blue line across his body as he blinked past the boar, scoring an angry red along it's side. I noticed it trying to turn around to face its current aggressor and halted its movement by using its head as a sheathe. Another significant dip in its hp, but not quite enough. A twist of my blade solved that and the quadruped exploded in a shower of crystalized data.

I swung my blade out to the side, a sharp and practiced motion that would have removed most blood sullying its metal before moving it back into its proper, painted ivory sheath.

I heard who I assumed to be Klein walking up to me, Harry nodding before heading off to rejoin his partner. "I guess you don't exactly need «Sword Skills», after seeing you fight," he said with a joking lilt.

"Like I said. I fight with skill." I returned the smile, though compared to his, the one formed by my lips might as well have been the distant stars on a full moon. Klein didn't seem to know how to continue from there, turning his gaze to look at the group he brought with him.

The two of us began speaking at the same time, both a question of some sort. I motioned for him to go first. "Why don't you join up with us for now? It's dangerous fighting alone."

I turned away and stretched. Though I already knew my response, I made a show of contemplating the question. "Very well. I suppose I shall humor your chivalry for today." I turned back around, a soft smirk on my face and my right fist on my hip. I wasn't sure if his group would be the right fit for me, but after spending the past few days sulking any contact was a ray of sunshine.

"Oi, it's bushido for me!" My eyes narrowed with glee when he widened his stance, a fist raised in protest.

"Fancy yourself a samurai?" I taunted, drawing my sword and moving to his left side. I nudged him forward with the butt of my weapon, motioning for him to take lead.

"I will! Eventually. There's not a lot of gear on the first floor for the look, you know?" Klein started walking, the seven other males relocating their battles to stay relatively close to us.

"Where are we going today, anyway?" While I didn't mind following their lead, and trusted in my abilities to escape if something untoward happened, it would be nice to know the goal.

"Deep into the woods. There's some Kobolds and Goblins in there. They're higher leveled than the «Boars» here on the plains." Klein pointed farther out towards the forests quite a distance away, perhaps a couple hours march. "There's a small village we can rest in when we get there." I noticed a slight hesitation in the near red-head's next step. "You sure you want to head that deep in with us? What level are you, anyway?"

"Don't know," I responded. Truthfully, there was very little I knew about this world, even after "living" in it for close to two weeks. Everything I had was directly accessible on my person. When buying things from stores I would check the "equip" box instead of "to inventory".

"You don't-" Klein took a deep breath and stopped. "Alright, add me to your friend's list."

I stopped as well, unable to keep the amusement off my face. "Skill," I chimed, far more smug than I had any right to.

"How did you survive this long!?" he demanded, hand moving to manipulate something. I pressed the circle on the window that popped up. While I knew how to interface with the system, accessing it was entirely different. "Alright. You know what? It's okay. I can work with this." I traced a few lazy patterns in the air with my sword, waiting for him to finish his mental breakdown.

"-when we break, I'm teaching you about how the basics then, ground up. I don't doubt you can take care of yourself, Ms. Level 6, but there's a lot you're missing out on." I merely nodded, turning my head to give a smile at another bandana clad male whose bifurcated moustache screamed fisherman to me.

"Yes, sensei," I drawled out, holding my blade in its sheathe. Truthfully I would have loved to swap out for a shorter sword, possibly even a dagger if I could find it, but the fear of losing my current sheathe kept me from entertaining the idea too much.

Klein clapped his hands fairly loudly. "Alright, guys! Same formations we talked about. Dynamm, join up with Issin and Kunimittz. Yell if you need to swap out!" Another window opened up, this one inviting me to a «Party». I looked at him for confirmation, Klein giving me a reassuring nod. I gave a short huff and accepted, delegating the scruffy swordsman to the position of Superior Officer for the time being.

We marched on for an hour or so, our group swapping out fighters on any creatures we came across. The farther we went out the more common «Frenzy Boars» became. Where a «Wild Boar» or «Plains Boar» might be level 1-3 depending on far you got from the town, «Frenzy Boars» could be level 4-7. The most I've dealt with were two «Wild Boars» that I fought at the same time, and even then my partner would take a shot from time to time.

As we traveled, I found out that the newest one's name was Choryu, derived from the kanji to mean something along the lines of "trendy". The «Dagger» user was an Office Worker for an Insurance Company specializing in house insurance. I wasn't entirely able to follow the conversation, but apparently he used to be a huge gamer back in high school, ending up as the Club President for his last two years. He splurged on the Nerve Gear a while back, getting his copy of SAO at the same time as Klein.

Harry One, a fairly sturdy guy that managed to get a simple leather head guard, was still studying, pulling all nighters on the weekends to hang out with his friends online and sleeping where he could. Dynamm, a somewhat angular man somewhere in his twenties, was a cashier slash shift manager at a convenience store, rooming with Kunimittz, a fairly light skinned man with a set of head I was somewhat jealous of, who was working part time jobs at a call center among other places. I didn't make fun of their real life jobs, something they seemed a little surprised by. Questions regarding my own history were deflected with years of practice, usually thrown right back at them with a coy smile.

"Klein, there's the new monsters!" Issin called, moving behind a tree in what was probably a drilled action. I lazily joined Klein who had rushed to another tree, trying to visually glean information on the two creatures.

They were called «Slumbering Lilies». Plant like creatures around six or seven feet tall. Multiple legs made from thick roots with a giant stalk, supporting a bulbous head of white and pink petals arranged like the tip of a trumpet. Based on looks alone it probably had a lot of airborne effects, maybe a few root based attacks to pin a target down as well as attack. It was probably a slow creature, hard to kill with a big health pool. Made me wish I had an axe to chop through it.

"I'll test its defences out." Dale, a somewhat heavy set man, slowly moved in, Harry One and Choryu backing him up.

He managed to get right up to the monster without inciting a response, letting loose a «Vertical» along the creature's stalk. Its HP dipped a little under 10%, finally garnering the attention of the «Slumber Lily». I called out a warning regarding his feet, but it didn't seem to click and the large swordsman had his feet ensnared by roots. I looked at Klein, moderately annoyed by his surprise.

"Draw its attention! Somebody else, cut the roots!" I moved up to support the trio as I called that info out. Perhaps they already had a plan and I was messing it up, but if they were going to take their sweet time responding then they deserved death.

My actions seemed to snap Klein out, the samurai-hopeful starting to direct his allies to get the second «Slumbering Lily» away from us. Harry One was starting to swing at the roots to free Dale, Choryu activated skills on the plant. As I ran past the large plant, I drew my sword and brought it low like a tennis racket to hack at the roots, quickly pivoting on my right foot and twirling my sword around my head to bring it across the plant's girth.

In the corner of my eye I noticed the four man of Klein, Dynamm, Issin, and Kunimittz taking turns activating sword skills on their «Lily». On my end, Dale and Harry did their best to alternate who took the close range root whip attacks while Choryu ran around on their flanks taking pot shots where he could.

I kept up my normal attacks on the other side of the gargantuan plant, specifically targeting the roots. I had once played a game where a creature could restore health using its roots, something I had no intention of testing whether or not that would occur here. After a time the ground immediately around it rumbled, roots sprouting around it in a rather large circle. To my satisfaction, the roots that I damaged caused nothing to sprout in their direction. Choryu and Harry became stuck, having been trapped in «Post Motion». Dale (who had fallen back to take a potion) and I were able to avoid the attack.

The lily shook, its petals unfolding and exposing the reproductive organs within. A thick mist of pollen rained and I, who were not underneath the petals, froze, a flickering yellow circle appearing over our heads. In the corner of my vision, I saw the same happening to Klein and his group.

Choryu and Harry managed to break free of the roots, resuming their attacks without any retaliation from the now still plant. Dale started moving around the same time as myself, presumably to rejoin the two hacking at the stem. From my position I couldn't help but notice the stamens and pistil still presenting themselves to the world.

With a few tugs and a somewhat awkwardly angled stab, I pulled myself onto a surprisingly sturdy petal and rushed over to the reproductive organs, making weak one handed slashes at each stamen until they fell off while I used my other hand to keep my balance around the steep center of the bulb. The plant shook again, but without anything to spread pollen I was safe from the forced «Post Motion». I dropped into the core of the plant, hooking my right arm around the pistil and driving my sword into its spherical base repeatedly, deigning to use two hands on a strike after I felt confident of my balance. The unwelcome feeling of a «Sword Skill» washed over me, and I found myself taking a knee, my blade sheathed up to the hilt in the plant.

A beat passed and the «Slumbering Lily» disappeared in a shower of shimmering data. I fell a short distance, landing on all fours while the trio I was with had a short celebration. The other four were still fighting their plant, and at their current rate it would pass shortly.

I dusted myself off habitually, taking a look around the clearing to make sure we were safe before dealing with the windows I had moved to the side of my vision. I had acquired several «Lily Pollen», a «Lily Petal Fragment», and two «Lily roots» alongside 40 Cor, as well as having discovered the skill «Stone Sheathe».

Another burst of data sounded off. Klein did a quick roll call and asked for status updates regarding health. As much trouble as the lilies gave with their effects, the damage they actually did wasn't that high. My guess was that we'd find these things later on backed by harder hitting monsters that could take advantage of our stunned state.

"Okay, guys. Let's take five for now. If we can recover with time we shouldn't waste health pots." Scruffles walked over to me, a serious look on his face at complete odds with his usual behavior. Without any build up, he began speaking.

"Lesson one. Accessing your menu." I let out a quiet huff, dreading the next few minutes. It was a little odd how easily he went from combat to conversational, but I suppose it came from the experience of being a group leader. "You can access your menu by either making a circle with your thumb and pointer together and pulling down or using your pointer and middle and making the same motion." Klein moved to my side, his hand moving to press a few things and letting me see his menu. "Access it and then look in the upper left. There should be an icon there that looks like two boxes. That lets others see your menu."

I took the motions he described, comparing my screen to his. There wasn't much info that was immediately usable. It seemed I needed to tap on things to open them. A bit of a hassle, really. "Let's check your Skills." He tapped his icon of a single person, pressing the resulting tab of three that had the outline of a bust.

The drop down menu that popped up afterwards had the skills "One handed Curved Blade" skill and «Battle Healing» listed, with an icon of a bullet list in the bottom right. "Unsurprisingly, you have only «One Handed Sword» equipped. Press the button on the lower right. That'll show you the list of available skills you can choose from."

I did as commanded, immediately looking through the list of skills. While there seemed to be a translation of real life capabilities to the game, it was safe to assume that utilizing the system mechanics would make it much easier and possibly better than your own abilities. With that in mind I tapped on the skill listed as «Acrobatics», reading through the description.

#Acrobatics. Affects the ability to climb or sprint up walls as well as increasing the ability to dodge attacks. Trained by climbing or sprinting up walls and dodging attacks.# I looked over at Klein, expecting commentary.

"If you want to get that skill, go ahead. This is still a game after all, so I'm not going to tell you how to play it a certain way." He grinned at me in what was probably a charming way to most other people. Once he got his act together in terms of handling his life (he and his friends spent several days in line for this after all) he'd make for a good father, or at the very least uncle.

"What's Battle Healing?" I asked, referencing his skill menu.

"It's a skill that restore your HP every few seconds based on its level. Pretty dangerous to train it though. You have to keep taking hits while in the Red to level it up." He opened up the skill, the resulting screen revealing that it was level 3 at the moment. Keeping in mind how cautious I planned on being, I kept that skill in mind before looking farther down the list. "You still heal HP over time normally though, so the skill just gives you a bigger heal, even in combat."

"Leather armor?" I tabbed open the skill.

#Increases the amount of defense gained while wearing Leather armor. Decreases the rate at which durability for Leather Armor is lost. Reduces weight of Leather Armor. Trained by taking damage while wearing Leather Armor.#

It sounded like a good fit. The numbers were fairly low for the time being, but it would add up over time. Keeping in mind to grab Battle Healing later on, I used the third slot (something Klein didn't seem to have) for «Leather Armor». In the back of my mind I noted that I seemed a little lighter, barely more than a couple pounds, but I imagined that it become more prevalent later on.

"How often do we gain slots?" I closed out the skill description window, leaving me with the Main Menu on the left, and the Skill List menu on the right.

"According to the guide being published by some of the Beta Testers, we start out with two Skill Slots, gain one at level 6, level 12, and then another one at level 20. Nobody's sure how often after that." Klein looked out at the group. Most of them were sitting down. Harry One and Kunimittz were standing on the edges of the clearing, slowly walking around and keeping a lookout.

"So you're under level 6 then." I started looking through my menu, closing my way back and stopping once I was at the tabs for Skills. It took me a moment to read it properly, but once I did I tapped the window labeled «Stats». It seemed that I was at a flat 1 across Strength, Vitality, and Dexterity. At the bottom of the window there was a bar that read #Available Stat Points: 15.#

"Yeah. I'm the highest out of my group right now, but I should be hitting level 6 soon. I had an extra few hours on Day One to train up while everybody else was exploring the Town." He looked back over at my screen, the smile slipping away to show a mix of confoundment and seriousness. "Asasaki. I really need to ask. How did you survive this long?"

"Skill. How do these work?" I motioned at the three stats. While there was a button to go into more detail for them, I prefered hearing a voice rather than reading it on my own.

He didn't respond for a few moments. "Strength is fairly obvious. That decides how much damage you can deal, the amount of weight you can carry, and there's some rumors going around that it plays a small part in the amount of damage you receive." I stared at the screen, wondering whether I should play this game as if it were real life or if I should play pretend.

"Vitality decides on how much HP you gain per level, but there's also a flat amount of health you gain. It plays a factor in the amount of damage you take as well as influencing how much you can do before feeling fatigue, but that one's just speculation since people with the same stats can feel fatigue at different times." Klein's health bar was around 95% now. If I focused on his bar in the upper left of my vision, at the top of the two man party we had formed, I could see the actual numbers was around 50 health less than my max health.

"Dexterity is how quick you can move, how accurate your attacks will be, and the odds of your attacks dealing extra damage. You gain three Stat Points per level, and most people are doing a 3-2-1 point distribution of some kind. Some people like me are planning on using a ratio of three levels for their points so I'll be following a 3-2-4 pattern since I plan on being a front line samurai. I need to be able to take take hits but also make sure mine count."

I mulled his words over, deciding that prioritizing Dexterity wouldn't be a bad idea. Having a relatively even mix of Strength and Vitality would work out as well. I'd probably lump more points into Strength but I might massively boost Vitality every so often if I ended up getting tired out faster than I wanted to.

I dumped around half of my skill points into Dex, putting four into Strength and the remaining three into Vitality. I felt a small difference, feeling a bit more energized as well as slightly lighter.

"No, I really need to know. If you haven't been able to access your menu, what have you been doing for food and potions?" As Klein spoke, I was busy tapping away at my Items menu, utilizing the «Sort» feature it had. The coherent time I had spent in this world wasn't much, but it was still enough to get me a handful of meat, fur, tusks, and claws from the Boars. The fur was less than the rest, but that was only because before I hid myself from society I had gone to an NPC and had them upgrade my boots.

"I ate at restaurants or from stalls. For health, once I fell below 15% I would go back to the Town and listen to a musician." Music in this world, at least from certain people, had the benefits of granting various buffs. Most NPC's had HP Restoration increases, others would give a small movement speed increase, some attack, others debuff resistance. While I wandered around I had found that information by accident, ending up making it part of my goal to locate as many musicians as possible. When I last went out, I had managed to find twelve different instruments, six of which were HP restoration.

I heard Klein shake his head. It wasn't efficient, but it was the only method I had at the time. "I'm not going to try to respond to that." I smiled a little, hearing the sullen frown he had.

"Are we just heading into the forest to train on the higher levels? Or was there another reason?" I fully closed my interface and started stretching my limbs again, wondering what I'd be able to pull off the more I raised my numbers. I had some ideas in mind, things that I could occasionally pull off in real life. Now that this was a game perhaps I could be the star of my own fantasy action movie.

"Mostly training on the higher levels. There's also a few quests in the village we're going to that hand out some stronger armor and accessories so I'm trying to get everybody upgraded." Klein started calling for everybody to get ready to head off again. "Did you want to group up with me or are you fine with those guys?"

I made a show of stretching my arms above my head. "Whichever one you think would be best. I'll mostly do my own thing unless you tell me to do otherwise." I moved in step to his left, taking a few seconds to match my pace with the one made by his annoying long legs.

"Dynamm, take point with Asasaki and me." The other bandana wearing member of the group moved to Klein's right, and the two led us through the forest.

"How do you know where we're going?" I asked, methodically looking around.

"We bought the map data yesterday. Some of the Beta Testers have been doing that for the floor to help us newbies out." He seemed far too tense. I guess the "death" aspect was pretty tough for civilians.

I gave a simple hum before increasing my speed to scout ahead. There didn't seem to be anything so far, though that could change at any moment. As much as they probably practiced to be a cohesive fighting force, there were still things they needed to learn. I motioned for them to stop. They weren't exactly stealthy group, so the silence would help in double checking the strange sounds I heard.

I slowly made my way back to Klein, keeping my voice low. "At least three humanoids. Relatively light in weight. Up and to the left." I waited for further direction. If we had ranged weaponry we could set up a trap, but being stuck with melee made our decisions fairly limited.

"You feel like leading this one?"

I shifted away slightly from Klein's voice, wondering what he meant by leading. "I'll need somebody to draw their attention. They should wait for my signal before engaging." I moved my right hand to grasp my sword in anticipation. I wouldn't use it for my opening move, but without something proper to hold in my hands the action would help focus my thoughts.

"Harry, you heard the lady." The named member moved up to our group and I directed him to stay on this side while I moved around to the other. The creatures turned out to be Goblins, one armed with a dagger, one with a mace, and the other an axe.

I stepped slightly out from behind a tree, motioning to Harry to move in. Unfortunately I wasn't hidden properly and the Mace user saw me, releasing a cry. Its subsequent attempt to run me down was halted by the shield user's battle cry.

Taking advantage of the distraction, I rushed in, coiling up as I neared to spring into a flying side kick, knocking the goblin away. Upon landing, I drew my sword, smashing the pommel into the dagger goblin's head. For the remaining axe user, only now turning its attention to me, I moved my sword to the left of my waist, letting loose a bottom-top «Slant».

"Kill!" I called out, losing myself in the rush of adrenaline. I made the motion for a «Vertical». Harry and I alternated attacks, using «skill» after «skill». Eventually the goblin died an unmerciful death. Harry and I shared a look of mutual gratitude. After my initial response, the rest of our group had moved in, killing their goblins in short order.

"Okay! So you're not the team leader for now." I sheathed my blade as Klein walked over, putting his weapon back into its curved scabbard on his hip. "You can handle a small group, but directions for everybody? I think I'll take care of that for the time being."

I held back my retort. Eventually I might be able to make those kinds of responses, but for now it would be best to wean them. "A test, then."

"Yeah. I know you can take care of yourself, but I wanted to see how you could handle others." It was a fair question. Truthfully, I could handle my old group quite well. Though the communications we had were forged and tempered through fire. Being inserted into a new group with which I had no contact or knowledge of might be doable, but to the extent I used to have? Impossible.

"Alright, guys. Let's keep moving. The village should be another hour or so away." I watched Klein lead the way forward, the group talking a bit amongst themselves before falling into silence. It was admirable, really. The way they tried to act like a military unit. They were comfortable with each other, each taking up their own role though it may overlap slightly with another. As an individual, they might not accomplish much, but as a whole they could do so much more.

I kept to myself as we walked, following Klein's commands. Aside from a small swarm of «Giant Wasps» we decided not to risk our lives against, we didn't encounter much else.

Soon enough we found ourselves in the village, though based on the amount of buildings it would be more accurate to call it a hamlet. They were simple buildings, seeming to be constructed out of fairly well made wattle and daub. Not that great in terms of insulation, but for shelter from the elements it was better than a lean-to.

"Let's split up and talk to the locals. We'll meet up in that Tavern by the end of the hour. Take note of any «Quests» you come across." I thought it was fairly interesting how after a time you could hear certain emphasis on given words and terms, though perhaps it was more due to how sensitive one had to be in order to fully hear the language.

"And as for us?" I stepped in front of Klein, keeping my back to him as I made another survey of the area.

"We'll be taking a look at the shops. Just window shopping for now, but we might buy some potions. Especially for you!" I turned and stared at him blankly, taking a minor amount of offense at the finger he used to push my head.

"Are you offering?" I placed my left hand on my hip, desperately wishing I had a stiff pouch to rest it on.

"What, are you saying you don't have the Cor for it?" I shifted my stance, and he gave a sigh. I kind of missed the smile. "Alright, fine. I'll help set you up. This time. But you owe me!" The angry look he had could have been impressive were it not for the betraying smirk on his face.

"Yes, sensei. Oh, thank you, sensei. Truly, you are the greatest, sensei." I hip checked him as I walked around, pushing on his back with my hand to lead. Klein stared at me for a moment before throwing his hands up in a dramaticized frustration. We did a quick lap of the hamlet, remarking to each other about the signs we saw. There was an apothecary, a smithie, a tavern, and a simple store that sold basic supplies. These were made from brick, a somewhat odd sight compared to the wood frame and mixed paste of the walls.

Klein took that time to explain to me the map function; how you could turn it on to auto map, change it so that it would stay open either in the palm of your hand or in the corner of your vision. He also explained where to go back in the main city if you wanted to see if you had map data that had yet to be publicized in order to get some Cor.

During the conversation he brought us into the Apothecary. A place filled with odours, a veritable sandstorm assaulted my senses. I crinkled my nose and did my best to desensitize myself.

"Hey, there!" Klein marched up to the front counter, a pleasant smile on his face. I walked over to the simple wooden displays, tuning the conversation out while I read through the vials.

The majority of them were health restoration. Minimal things that healed ten health a second for ten seconds, up to 15 health for twenty seconds (that one cost 200 Cor). There were a set of potions on the right hand side that were preventatives for various status effects that took ten minutes before they activated but lasted thirty.

I've heard of crystals that were instant activation but those were much more expensive. When I asked Klein about it offhandedly, he mentioned that curative crystals could go for one thousand Cor, while instant health crystals cost at least that, with the price increasing the more health they restored.

I was brought out my thoughts by a window opening up in front of me. It was a trade window from Klein, one that took me a moment to accept. Five health potions appeared on the other window alongside two potions for stun, poison, and blindness. "These are on me. You can pay me back later." I tapped accept and looked at Klein, wondering what was it that let him so willingly help another out. Part of me wanted to pin it on his culture, but considering that in order to escape this world we had to fight to escape, the majority of me felt that he had to have an ulterior motive.

"Once we get back to the tavern and meet up with everybody I'll give you a proper introduction. Like I said earlier, if you feel like joining up with us we'll be doing some of the quests they have here. Most of them should be kill quests but there's probably going to be collect an item. Maybe at the end there might be an escort quest to bring us somewhere." The «Curved Blade» user brought us outside. A few NPC's were walking around walking around, most of them seeming as if they were returning home from work around the forest, perhaps even the fields.

There was perhaps an hour at most before the sky turned dark. While in the normal world some people that worked physical labor would stay out a bit later, it was unconfirmed whether or not monsters spawned much more frequently and with a higher level at night. It was safe to assume that NPC's that worked outside civilizations would retire early as a precaution.

Issin, a kind of scrawny guy who hair reminded me of a short paintbrush, was standing outside the «Charbroiled Boar». He waved when he noticed us before heading inside. I grabbed onto the door handle, pushing it open. A few moments later, Klein stepped through, putting a hand on my shoulder and directing me to the tables pushed together by his friends.

I pulled a seat out for myself beside Choryu, moving the ordering menu to the side for the time being. Klein talked a little with everybody before moving between Dynamm and Harry One.

"Alright guys. What have we found?" The others took turns speaking up. Like Klein suspected, most of the things they found involved killing a certain amount of creatures. Some of them involved collecting drops, and Dale managed to find an event that would be available in another day. The consensus was that it would be an escort quest to another village.

While they talked, I placed an order for a simple stew and loaf of bread, consuming my meal while they hashed out the details. As they progressed, they each purchased their own meals The conversation turning to expectations for tomorrow, as well as farther into the future.

In time, they all headed off to one of the houses, offering a small amount of Cor in exchange for using a stable or extra room to sleep in. Klein, Harry One, and I were still at the table. I, having taken my time with the bread while Harry and Klein were talking about the plan tomorrow in more detail.

I turned my attention to them when I heard Klein repeat my name a few times. "Tomorrow you'll be with Harry, Dale, and Issin if you want to go out with us." Once I nodded, he started speaking again. "Choryu, Kunimitzz, and Dynamm will be part of my group. We'll be splitting up to handle the quests together. We can each accept them and then collect enough materials for all of us to handle. As a party, our progress will be shared in regards to kill counts."

I gave my acknowledgement, returning back to my meal. Ignoring proper etiquette, I hunched over slightly, resting my elbows on the table as I finished off my bread.

"We'll be sharing a room, by the way. There's not enough places left for us to take them by ourselves." I gave another nod, pushing back the encroaching memories.

"I'll head over later. Where's it located?" I picked at the bread, eating it in pieces as opposed to bites.

"It's over on the eastern side of the village. Hey, while we're here let me teach you about the «Friend» tab. Klein stood up and moved to my side, sharing his screen with me to teach about the various functions, primarily the «Locate» function. After a certain point it would only give a general description of where your friend was. If somebody was in the somewhat distant town of «Horunka», that's all the system would explain. Once you got in the same area and within a certain range the system would put a trail of dots in your vision, with a marker on your map being used if they were within that range.

Once Klein explained that function I slowed down my eating, biding time for him to leave. It took a few more minutes, time the «Curved Blade» user spent drinking a simple tea, but he finally left for the room we were spending the night at, getting a promise out of me not to wander out by myself.

I waited a few more minutes, focusing on the grain of the wood before slowly standing up and walking out the tavern. By now the sun had fully set, and an artificial sky of stars and a waning moon spread over my head. I made my way out the hamlet, keeping relatively close by.

I wasn't sure if there were spawning limits on monsters in regards to NPC settlements, but I didn't want to risk it. I let my feet guide me, keeping track of how far I traveled. Eventually I found a small clearing, where the false lights of the ceiling filtered through the leaves. I took a deep breath, methodically rested my sheathed blade against the tree, and began talking.

* * *

Next chapter should be up July 7th or 8th.


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